The Netflix documentary, BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky sheds new light on BLACKPINK members Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa, and Rosé. The documentary is 2 years in the making and showcases their journey from auditionees to trainees before eventually becoming the highest-charting K-Pop girl group ever. Filled with old tapes from their childhood, viewers got to see the four of them grow up into the superstars they have become in their 20s.
They were already famous in Asia before performing in the US. They were the first-ever K-pop girl group to be invited to perform in the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. It was Coachella that became their door towards international stardom, and they opened that door with a bang. Light Up the Sky serves as a treat for their fans, called Blinks, and serves as an introduction to those who don’t know who they are.
10 The training system to be a K-pop artist is grueling but rewarding
In the documentary, Rosé said that they used to train for 14 hours a day. They only get one day off every 13 days. They can use that day off to rest, visit their family, and basically do everything they couldn’t do while in the training camp. But after that, it’s back to more training for 14 hours a day.
It was so hard that most trainees never make it to debut at all. Jisoo also mentioned that there was a monthly review. All trainees need to do their best to reach the company’s standards in order to not be eliminated.
9 K-pop idols have a lot of strict rules to follow
K-pop idols are not allowed to drink, smoke, or get a tattoo. This might come as a shock, especially to people in the Western world who are used to seeing tattooed stars. This is because Asia is generally conservative and tattoos are still taboo in South Korea.
Trainees in YG Entertainment are not even allowed to date for a certain number of years. The length of this “dating ban,” as it is infamously called, depends on the contract that the artist signed.
8 Different companies have different age requirements
Every company has their own age requirements, but we learned in the documentary that you can join the K-pop training camp as early as 11 years old. Lisa and Jennie auditioned for YG at the young age of 14 while Jisoo and Rosé auditioned when they were 16.
Jennie was the first to start training in 2010. She trained for 6 years; Lisa and Jisoo for 5 years; and Rosé, who was the last to join, trained for 4 years.
7 You can be a K-pop artist even if you’re not Korean
There are many K-pop trainees that are not Korean. BLACKPINK's Lisa was born and raised in Thailand before she decided to audition for YG Entertainment in 2010. When she started training, the only Korean word she knew was “annyeonghaseyo” which meant “hello”. Jennie was the only one who could speak English among the trainees, so she was the only one Lisa was able to talk to.
Aside from vocal and dance training, she also took Korean lessons every day. Fast forward to 2016 and Lisa is YG Entertainment’s only non-Korean to debut. This shows that talent and hard work are worth more than ethnicity to be successful as a K-pop idol.
6 Whistle was almost shelved
The record label was not confident that Whistle would do well as a debut song. A lot of people thought it sounded “empty”. BLACKPINK had a difficult time recording the song in the studio since they had to record the whistling sound 1000 times until it was perfect.
Deciding to release it as a last-minute decision was a risky move, but that risk paid off. And it paid off well because BLACKPINK won the first trophy of their career because of Whistle. The song also became a certified Perfect All-Kill (PAK) — which meant that it reached #1 in all the daily and real-time major South Korean music charts.
5 Jennie is super shy
Jennie is super shy, to the point that she used to find it difficult to order on the phone. This isn’t obvious because Jennie always looks so confident performing in front of a huge crowd of cheering fans. But she says that her personality off-stage is actually quite the opposite.
In the documentary, she stated that she “Always [avoids] interviews or any questions about [her] because [she] would rather not talk about [herself]”. Jessie Yeo, Jennie’s pilates instructor, mentioned that it wasn’t easy getting to know Jennie because she was closed-off, but when they became close, she realized that Jennie is a “very loyal, very sweet, and a lovely friend”.
4 Rosé has a hard time falling asleep
Rosé has a hard time falling asleep, so she uses this time to work on her music instead. Their days as K-pop idols are so filled with work that she can only make time for music at night. As someone who was immersed in music since she was young, singing is her way to relieve stress.
3 Lisa loves vintage clothes
Lisa has become somewhat of a fashion icon with her diverse and unique tastes in clothes. But she especially loves vintage fashion. Whichever country she visits, she always looks for vintage shops. In fact, she spent ₩1.1 million on one shopping spree alone.
2 Jisoo was called a “monkey” for being ugly
Jisoo, the unnie (older sister) of the group, opened up that her relatives treated her as an outcast because she was ugly. In a heartwarming scene with her friend and make-up artist, she said that they even called her a monkey when she was younger. But now, she has been cast by famous fashion and beauty brands and labeled as the main visual of BLACKPINK.
1 Teddy Park is BLACKPINK’s honorary 5th member
Teddy Park is the group’s music producer. He gained fame as the rapper of the Korean hip-hop group 1TYM. In the documentary, he opened up that when he was first started out his career, he didn’t have someone who guided him on where to go.
He resolved to become this person — “someone [he] needed when [he] was young”— to younger K-pop artists. As the saying goes, “behind every successful man is a great woman.” In this case, behind a famous girl group is a great mentor.
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